Halloweenland

Halloweenland is the family-friendly section of the park–where the happy dreams of kids (and kids-at-heart) come to life. The main colors of the land are bright orange and lime green to evoke thoughts of pumpkins but also to provide some brightness compared with some of the other lands. Roaming creatures include Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Charlie Brown, Lucy Van Pelt, Snoopy, Casper, Jack Skellington, Mike & Sully (Monsters Inc.), and Ickis/Oblina/Krumm (Aaahh!!! Real Monsters).

Scarlet Devil Manor: A Touhou Restaurant (@Miru)

You come up to a stately-looking mansion in Halloweenland, with a large gate at the front, and topiaries surrounding it. This is the area’s primary dining establishment, akin to “Be Our Guest” at the Magic Kingdom but on a more casual scale while keeping the character dining aspect.

Touhou Project (based off a video game series) is a series full of spooks, but this isn’t really taken seriously or even emphasized in most cases, making it a fine fit for Halloweenland. However, the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil roster (the sixth in the series), especially those who dwell in the Scarlet Devil Manor, are the spookiest of all; two vampire sisters, a succubus (a supernatural entity taking the form of a woman), and a darkness manipulator ala Dr. Facilier (of The Princess and the Frog) to name a few. Indeed, the lived-in atmosphere and danger of Scarlet Devil make it a fine base for a restaurant dining experience ala Be Our Guest, with other spooky characters from the series added in for spice (the SDM is open for visitors indeed) and variety. Our hosts, Remilla (woman vampire) and Flandre Scarlet, invite visitors with reservations into their Scarlet Devil Manor. A statue of their green-clad guard Hong Meiling is at the gates, with a button saying “I really wish I could nap on the job” as a nod to fanon perceptions and a memorable scene from Hisoutenkou (a fighter game). The entrance also has portraits of not only Hong, but also Sakuya Izayoi, the knife-tossing, blue-dressed maid of the Scarlet Devil Manor (a statue of her can be seen as well below her portrait, holding a guest list), Patchouli Knowledge, the pink-clad librarian magician, and Remilla and Flandre themselves. Staff are there, clad in frilly attire similar to what the Scarlets themselves wear, albeit color coded around their servants. Waiters are in pink (Patchouli Knowledge), while the cooks are in blue (Sakuya Izayoi) and the security are in green (Hong Meiling), and then your waiter gives you your menu.

Even this menu is decorated with Touhou characters, many associated with eating, such as Yoshika Miyako the Jiang-Shi (hopping corpse) and her lover/master Seiga Kaku the “wicked hermit” under the “Meals for 2” section, with Rumia, the shadow manipulator Youkai, on the kids menu section being helped by Yamame Kurodani. That gluttonous ghost Yuyuko also appears of course, found on the “main courses” section, with the hard-drinking blonde horned Oni known as Suika Ibuki on the alcohol section. Yuma Totetsu, the gluttonous satyr-like Taotie, also appears on the dessert menu, holding up the options in her massive “pitchspork”, her signature item. Beverages can also be ordered in souvenir cups that include a Touhou character bust on the top, depicting one of the SDM crew; Hong Meiling the gatekeeper, Koakuma the succubus, Patchouli Knowledge the librarian magician, Sakuya Izayoi the maid, Remilla the “Scarlet Devil”, or Flandre Scarlet herself.

There are three dining rooms to choose from, much like its inspiration of Be Our Guest. The central dining room features a statue of Remilla Scarlet at the center. You will be able to hear Flandre in the room as well, awaiting when “the servants do their fun show”. This, of course; alludes to character dining, where the family servants come out to sign autographs and interact with diners, Remilla announcing it when it happens. The back window is a screen that shows a scarlet mist, with an occasional glimpse of Marisa Kirisame, the “ordinary magician”, trying to investigate, as Rumia tries to chase her down as a midnight snack, often smacking against the window and falling down. During the character dining period, one can hear “UN Owen Was Her”, one of the most memorable Touhou toe tappers and Flandre’s own theme.

The next room is the Mistress’s Dining Room, which contains animated figures of Remilla and Flandre, Flandre holding a sippy cup of blood and Remilla looking over at her happily. They will often make comments on the situation and jokes as well. The window here shows a figure of Sakuya keeping watch over the two of them. You can also see Rin Kaenyobu, the kasha (corpse-carrying leopard girl) carrying a stretcher and dashing about.

The third room is called the Lover’s Lounge, and is dedicated largely to non-SDM associated characters. When entering, you can see a large painting of Sakuya Izayoi and Hong Meiling together, holding hands. Animated figures of Seiga Kaku and Yoshika Miyako can be seen in this room, having a bit of a date, sharing between them some sake. Yoshika will look over her shoulder counter-clockwise at the guests, and sometimes wink. Seiga will also wink and look over at the guests, but clockwise. There is also a statue of Yuyuko with a knife and fork. Portraits of Reimu and Marisa can also be seen there. The window here shows Reimu herself, looking around to see if anything goes wrong, while Cirno is farting about as Daiyousei tries to rein that wild blue ice fairy in.

Overall, this spooky dining experience adds plenty to the land as it stands, and helps bring awareness to Touhou in a theme park for the very first time.